Once I gained confidence, teaching in the moment was the key to what I did in the classroom year after year. That confidence, however, left me when I started teaching older students in higher grades. Despite what I thought I had learned, fear overtook me and I reverted back to my old "stand-and-deliver" method of teaching.
After two classes in that old style, my students revolted and said that this was not the way they wanted to learn. They wanted more class participation, lessons based on what they were discovering, and me to be attentive to their needs in the moment. Wasn't that what I always said I would do? That night, I went home reeling from the realization that I had gone astray. I know, now, that my best teaching followed that wake-up call from my students, who compassionately and politely pushed me to find ways to cover lesson objectives while being responsive to their needs. Here's how I got back to teaching in the moment.
As part of my planning, I outlined the main points of a lesson and printed them on one sheet for me to reference when teaching. Then, I started each lesson by saying, "So, tell me what happened this week while you were out living your lives." I wove the lesson points into their stories. It was awesome! My students met the learning objectives, were engaged, and participated readily. This was the best teaching I had ever done, and it was just like the success I had with my much younger students. My students' stories provided the backdrop for our learning. Likewise, I found that I could use my own storytelling to connect with my students.
Teaching Is Storytelling
Everybody loves a good story. Recently, an avid read-aloud grandparent told me about his 4-year old hearing-impaired grandchild. He always thought that reading a story accompanied by pictures would be helpful to her because it would make the story more understandable, considering her hearing challenges. He was surprised when she said, "Poppa, tell me a story from your mouth," showing again that the long tradition of storytelling is welcomed as an intimate and valuable way to listen and learn.
Students of any age love it when we tell them real stories. I have found that place-based stories—those that have meaning and relevance to the listener's context—are the most effective. These types of stories don't need a script, but they do require teachers to be observant and attuned to their students' lives outside the classroom. For example, I did a Community Development Practicum in an inner city homeless shelter in a huge metropolis. I told students stories that focused on the reality of their lives. For example, I shared a story of a school in New York City where the principal kept the school open until midnight so that students had a place to do homework (and no excuses not to do it). This story evoked student conversations and led them to think of a time they faced a similar challenge or experience. The stories I told students in this neighborhood were entirely different from the ones I shared in a school in a remote village, where some of the students had never been to a town, never seen an elevator or an escalator, been to a restaurant, used a seat belt, or experienced cultures other than their own. In a less populous area like this village, we tended to talk more about the intersection of school and the natural world. For example, we discussed whether students should skip school to go out on "digging" days to dig for clams.
Then, I moved to a school in a suburban subdivision where most moms drove their children to school in a new SUV or van, packed them healthy lunches in special containers, and picked them up to take them to paid lessons like horseback riding or violin. This was an entirely different experience than the two environments I had worked in previously. Next, I did an exchange in the remote islands north of Scotland. The experiences those students had were entirely different from any I had seen before. On a very blustery day, the students had to hold onto a rope to walk from the building to the bus or they would be blown away! This taught me that location definitely makes a difference when it comes to the relevance of a story. In any setting, however, the goal is to get students reflecting and responding to topics that resonate with them.
Teaching in the moment requires us to listen deeply and be mindful and at the ready. When we trust our own common sense and wisdom, we find just the right words to tell stories that fit.